Meet The Staff

Our staff has unparalleled compassion with decades of experience.

The founder and staff of A New Beginning Adoption Agency are adoption professionals with personal adoption experience as adoptive parents, adult adoptees and/or birth parents. We are a non-profit, licensed adoption agency with extensive experience supporting, preparing and educating adoptive families and birth families. Our goal is not to only match children with their families but to also provide essential post-adoption services to everyone involved; adopted children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. Adoption is a journey, we guide families through theirs.

Stephanie Pearl, LSW

Executive Director

Stephanie Pearl is the Founder and Executive Director of A New Beginning. She has over 20 years of experience in the social work field working in nursing homes, elementary schools, the juvenile justice system and family services. She has 16 years of experience in the adoption field working with all members of the adoption triad. She is passionate about preparing and supporting birth families, adoptive parents and children through the adoption journey. Stephanie and her husband have two children, one they adopted from China at 9 months old and a biological son. In her spare time Stephanie enjoys camping with her family, reading and traveling.

Christy Frans, BA Psychology

Adoption Specialist

Christy Frans has worked in the non-profit arena for over 17 years and has worked with A New Beginning Adoption Agency as an adoption specialist since 2009. As sister to an adopted brother and aunt to an internationally adopted niece, Christy has been surrounded by adoption most of her life. Christy graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She works primarily with families in the home study process, where she provides them support and training as they begin their adoption journey. She also has experience working with birth families in placement and adoptive families in post placement services. She currently co-teaches the agency’s foster adopt training, but has enjoyed developing and conducting trainings in all adoption programs over the last 9 years at A New Beginning. Christy is especially passionate about working with youth adopted from the foster care system. She co-facilitates ANB’s Youth Advisory Board which meets twice monthly at A New Beginning. Christy is a proud mom to three daughters, who loves family time with her husband and children.

Tina Kierce, Bachelor of Science / Education

Marketing Director

Tina Kierce joined A New Beginning in 2016, but has ten years of experience in the field. Her role as Marketing Director for the agency is focused on communicating available services to the girls experiening unplanned pregnancies and adoptive families through outreach. In her adoption experience she’s seen over 1,200 children be placed in forever families, functioned as a community liason for adoption, and raised funds for international humanitarian projects. In 2000, Tina traveled to China to open a family-style orphanage in the Shangxi Provence. A graduate of Radford University in Virginia she has a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with a focus on at-risk adolescents.

Amberlee James, Boise State University

Adoption Specialist - International

Amberlee is received her bachelor’s of science degree in Social Work at Boise State University and completed her internship with A New Beginning Adoption Agency. She has a background working with children of all ages that have experienced domestic violence and trauma. As she works towards her masters of social work, she will be the newest adoption specialist at A New Beginning and will focus on the home study and post-placement reports for families adopting internationally. As a child, her parents provided respite care for children in the foster care system, and since then, she has become very passionate about advocacy and adoption services. In her personal time, she enjoys playing music, dancing, and spending time with her husband, who was adopted as an infant.

Amanda Cervantes, LSW

Adoption Specialist - Eastern Idaho

A native of South East Idaho, Amanda received her Bachelors of Arts in Social Work from Boise State University and will finish her nursing degree from Idaho State University in 2018. She has a love for both social work and nursing and practices both in eastern Idaho. Amanda has worked with A New Beginning for two years helping families throughout the adoption process in addition to her experience working with the Department of Health & Welfare, District 7 completing social history’s, life books and home studies.

When Amanda isn’t working, she enjoys the great Idaho outdoors, traveling, reading and spending time with her husband, three furbabies and soon to be newborn son

Cara Walsh, BSW

Infant Coordinator

Cara has been working in the field of adoption since 2008. She has a passion for adoption and enjoys caring for birth mothers and adoptive parents during their adoption journey. Cara’s experience includes writing home studies, conducting post placements for infant children, foster children and international children and birth parent case management, support and counseling. Cara also teaches the agency’s Infant Family Training to adoptive parents. She developed a unique and effective curriculum entitled Adoption 101 that has been taught in high schools around the state, college campuses in Idaho, pregnancy crisis centers and to hospital nurses. She is a very proud mother of two beautiful girls and enjoys spending time with her children and her husband.

Emma Kennedy, LSW

Adoption Specialist

Emma has been involved in the adoption world since 2014. Having a good friend who is an adoptee, adoption has always been an interest of Emma’s. She completed her senior year practicum with A New Beginning and graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelors degree in Social Work. Emma is a Licensed Social Worker in the State of Idaho. As an Adoption Specialist, she finds much joy in working with adoptive families and birth parents throughout their adoption journey. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and what the Boise area has to offer.

Amber Kidd, BSW

Adoption Specialist

Amber has been with A New Beginning Adoption Agency since 2013. A New Beginning is where Amber completed her senior practicum working with birth parents, adoptive families, and children adopted domestically as infants, internationally, and through the foster care system. She graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. Amber works primarily with the domestic infant and foster-adopt families as the Family Support Coordinator. Amber is a passionate advocate for adoptive families and enjoys helping support them as they go through their adoption journey. Amber’s personal loves include concerts, a good book, Netflix series, and spending time with her family.

Quincy Budell, Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences

Wellness Center Coordinator

Quincy Budell is a recent graduate of Northern Arizona University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, with an emphasis in Public Health and is working at A New Beginning’s Wellness Center Administrator. Quincy became interested in adoption at a young age watching her aunt and uncle adopt her cousins and completed her internship at the agency helping birth parents and adoptive families get connected with community resources. In January 2017, she started the new position is will help build the Wellness Center which specializes in counseling and therapies common to birth parents, adoptees, adoptive families and foster-families. Originally from Boise, she is happy to have the opportunity to help people in her community and be near her family again.

Evie Hope

Office Helper

Evie Hope joined A New Beginning as the first furry office helper and therapy dog in training. Evie is a Coton de Tulear and was born in Council, Idaho but originally from Madagascar. Her friends describe her as precious, definitely fluffy, comforting and a whole lot of happy. As she continues her training to be a therapy dog, she also enjoys stealing the fake grass in the planters around the office. Follow her on Instagram along with her distant boyfriend Midas in Argentina. Follow me on my Instagram account!

24/7 Hotline

Rebecca Marquez, MS, MFTI

Counselor and TBRI Practioner

With a Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, East Bay, and am currently a licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Intern and most recently completed training at the Karyn Purvis Child Development Institute and became one of Idaho’s few TBRI practioners. Becky’s diverse experience encompass’ community based rehabilitation, case management, school based behavior intervention, and group therapy. She is thrilled to be focused on counseling and help individuals, couples and groups heal! Becky has been married for almost 15 years and lived in Idaho for 12. After moving to Idaho, she and her husband adopted their first child through A New Beginning. He is 10 now. Two years later, the became licensed foster parents and have since fostered 14 different children and are in the process of adopting four those precious children. When time allows, Becky enjoys singing, reading and playing with her kids and pets.

“She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25

Ronda Cox, LCSW

Licensed Counselor

Ronda Cox, LCSW received her master’s degree in Social Work from Boise State University and currently serves as a Social Work faculty member. Ronda has diverse experience including hospice care, grief and loss, family and marriage therapy, trauma, anxiety, psychosocil rehabilitation and drug and alcohol addiction treatment. She is also a member of the International Association of Trauma Professionals, Idaho Association for Play Therapy, National Asociation of Social Workers, Phi Alpha Honor Society and OSSW (Organization of Student Social Workers). Cox enjoys working with individuals, families and groups.

Laraine Merrill, MSW

Adoption Specialist - Northern Idaho

Laraine graduated with her masters degree in Social Work with a Clinical Counseling emphasis on families and children from Brigham Young University. She joined A New Beginning as an adoption specialist in Northern Idaho providing adoption and support services to the growing number of adoptive families in the area.

Merrill’s experience includes working with families, couples and individuals of all ages and in areas such as adoption, domestic violence, rape, abuse and individual mental health. She is an avid volunteer, specifically with youth and the homeless in her community. As an adoptive parent of 3 (domestic and international) and growing up in a home where several children were fostered, it’s natural for Laraine to connect to and understand the families going through the adoption process.

In her free time, she loves the outdoors (camping, hiking, fly fishing, mushroom hunting, and huckleberry picking), gardening, and traveling. Always in motion, she loves history and exploring the diversity of life.

Kara McAffee, LSW

Adoption Specialist - Eastern Idaho

Kara received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work in 2007 from Brigham Young University-Idaho. She worked with children and families at the Department of Health and Welfare until 2012; this included Department of Health and Welfare foster care adoptions. She has a passion for linking infants and children to their forever families. Since 2012, she has also served the elderly population, working as a hospital social worker assisting with discharge planning. She also has a passion for helping patients and their loved ones in planning life after their hospital stay.

Kara resides in Idaho Falls with her husband and two daughters and their chocolate lab Belle, who all keep Kara very busy. In her spare time, Kara enjoys running half marathons, traveling with her family, and playing in the outdoors as much as she can including snowboarding and camping.

Available Internships

A New Beginning has Social Work interns most of the time, but available positions fill up fast. We currently do not have an internship opportunities available. If you are interested in inquiring about upcoming opportunities, please click here.

Careers

A New Beginning Adoption Agency offers an incredibly rewarding career opportunity. We currently do not have any opportunities available. If you wish to learn about upcoming opportunities, please plan to revisit this page for updated status or email admin@adoptanewbeginning.org.